It's a Wonderful life.
by Wild Gunman
Summary: The Huxtable family find out that Theo's been taking drugs. Can they help him?
1. Default Chapter

It's a Wonderful Life.  
  
By Frank Candiloro.  
  
Cliff Huxtable opened up the pantry to get some snacks. It was his day off from work and all he wanted to do was watch television in peace.  
  
"Chips?" He said, opening up the potato chip bag and emptying it in a bowl. A few crumbs came out. "No." Cliff said.  
  
"Pretzels?" He said, now opening up a pretzel bag and emptying it. More crumbs came out.  
  
"That's leaves it to no one's favorite," He said, opening up another bag and emptying it. "Walnuts." He said in disgust.  
  
Cliff carried the bowl to the living room and lied down on the couch. He turned on the T.V set and flipped through channels. Finally he saw that The Blues Brothers was on, one of his favorite movies, mainly because it had James Brown in it and left it there.  
  
He was getting really tired. He fell asleep.   
  
Then, the door opened. Cliff's second daughter Denise walked in. Cliff and his wife Claire had five children- 4 daughters and one son, but the oldest, Sandra, was at college.  
  
"Hey dad!" Denise said, walking up the stairs to her room.  
  
Cliff didn't answer. He just gave a "Mmmmm" sound in reply.  
  
Then the door opened again and Vanessa and Rudy, the two youngest daughters walked in and up to their room. They were arguing about something.  
  
"But I wanna watch Sesame Street at 5:00!" Rudy whined.  
  
"No Rudy! There's a movie on. It's called St Elmo's Fire." Vanessa said.  
  
"I don't think Daddy will let you watch that." Rudy said.  
  
Although Cliff could here all of this, he didn't pay any attention. Two hours had passed. His wife Claire walked to him.  
  
"Cliff!" She said, shaking him, "Wake up!"  
  
Cliff woke up. "What is it dear?" He said, a little cranky.  
  
"Do you know where Theo is?" Claire said.  
  
"No I don't." Cliff said.  
  
"He was supposed to come home two hours ago!" Claire said. "Where do you suppose he could be?"  
  
"Maybe he's meeting another girl. You know what Theo's like. He pierced his ear once for a girl." Cliff said.  
  
Claire smiled. "I suppose so. And you burned all the hair off your head just for me."  
  
There was laughter. Cliff and Claire turned around. Vanessa was at the stairs, laughing her head off.  
  
"Vanessa!" Claire said, stern. "Go do you homework."  
  
"But what is homework?" Vanessa said. "What does it all mean?"  
  
"It's going to mean a lot of pain if you don't do it!" Cliff said.  
  
Vanessa sighed and walked back up the stairs. A second later, the door opened and Theo walked in.  
  
"Theodore!" Claire said. "Where have you been?"  
  
"Oh... I was just... playing basketball." Theo said.  
  
"For two hours?" Cliff said.  
  
"Well we played a couple of games." Theo said. He looked uncomfortable for some reason. Then he ran upstairs.  
  
"What do you suppose is wrong with him?" Claire asked.  
  
"I'll have a talk with him after a nap." Cliff said.  
  
"Cliff!" Claire said.  
  
Cliff sighed. "All right." He said. He got up and walked up the stairs to Theo's room.  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
When Cliff opened the door to Theo's room, Theo was sitting on his bed, reading a car magazine. As usual, his room looked like it was hit by a tornado, with clothes and toys everywhere and an unmade bed.  
  
"Yeah Dad?" Theo said.  
  
Cliff sat on the edge of the bed. "Theo, your mother thinks there is something wrong with you. What is it?" He asked.  
  
"I can't tell you." Theo said uncomfortably.  
  
"If you don't tell me, then your mother's face will change like this." Cliff said. He made a hideous frown. "And," Cliff said with the frown still on his face. "When it's your wedding day, she will still have this frown, and then your wife to be will run away. So you better tell me." He said.  
  
"I... did some homework." Theo said.  
  
"Heh heh heh." Cliff laughed. "My boy, Denise's name starts with the same letter that's on your report cards. Tell me the truth."  
  
"If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone?" Theo asked.  
  
"Okay. Now fire away." Cliff said.  
  
"Okay. After school, my class had to go to this presentation in the hall. It was about drugs and how bad it was to take them. It had lasted an hour. Then after that, my friends and I played some basketball at the park. Then I saw something really disturbing." Theo said.  
  
"And what was that?" Cliff asked.  
  
"My friends went to their bags, and pulled out drugs!" Theo said. "They offered me some, but after that presentation I refused. They called me a wimp and a chicken, but I still said no. Then... then."  
  
"What?" Cliff said, impatient.  
  
"This other guy who I didn't know got enraged at me, and we got into a fight, and I got a bruise on my back." Theo said. He took off his T-shirt and on his back was a big purple bruise the size of a baseball. Cliff touched it.  
  
"OW!" Theo said. "That hurts!"  
  
"That is really nasty." Cliff said. "Theo, I'm proud of you."  
  
"Proud? Why?" Theo said.  
  
"You standed up to all that peer pressure. That is a very hard thing to do. Now maybe, you can try to get higher marks on your report card, like starting with, what my name starts with." Cliff said.  
  
Theo smiled. "Okay. Thanks Dad."  
  
"No problem son." Cliff said, leaving the room.  
  
* * *  
  
At the dinner table that night, as usual, was noisy.  
  
"So, Theo." Claire said. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Oh yeah. I'm fine." Theo said. "I just had trouble with my homework."  
  
"And now." Cliff said, going to the refridgerator and pulling out a bottle of milk. "I am going to have a glass, of milk."  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Claire said, getting some soy milk. "You are on a diet. You are going to have some soy milk."  
  
"Seriously, the cow who gave that milk must have been diseased." Cliff said. But he let Claire pour the milk into the glass.  
  
"Dad can I have a dog?" Vanessa said.  
  
"For the last 2 months, you have been asking for a dog, and each time, I have said no. Taking care of a dog is hard work" Cliff said.  
  
"But I could take care of it!" Vanessa said. "Please?"  
  
"No." Claire said.  
  
Vanessa sighed, but she didn't press the issue anymore.  
  
* * *  
  
"So, what was wrong with Theo?" Claire asked in bed.  
  
"Theo told you before." Cliff said. "It was homework!"  
  
"I don't think so." Claire said. "It is something else."  
  
"How do you know it's something else?" Cliff asked.  
  
"I just have this feeling that's all." Claire said.  
  
"Don't pester yourself over it." Cliff said. "Just get some sleep." He turned off the lamp and went to sleep.  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Vanessa was busy watching a music video for Pat Benatar when Theo walked in.  
  
"Hi Theo." Vanessa said.  
  
"Oh hi" Theo said. "Can't we watch something different?"  
  
"No." Vanessa said.  
  
"Oh all right. I've got homework to do." Theo said. He walked up to his room. As he was walking, something fell out of his jacket pocket. Vanessa noticed and walked up to the fallen object. It was a white plastic container, with a child proof cap. Since she was only ten, she didn't know what it was, so she went over to her mother in the kitchen to find out.  
  
"Mom, what's this?" Vanessa said.  
  
Claire looked at it for a moment, then a shocked expression spread across her face.  
  
"Why, it's ritalin!" Claire exclaimed. "Is Theo taking drugs?"  
  
"I don't know. Go ask him." Vanessa said.  
  
Claire stormed up to Theo's room and pounded on the door.  
  
"Theodore! Open the door right now!" Claire said. She didn't wait for him to open. Claire opened it herself. Theo was a meter away from his dart board, throwing darts.  
  
"Yeah Mom? What's up?" Theo said.  
  
"You are!" Claire said. She threw the ritalin case on the bed.  
  
"Mom, what are you doing with a ritalin bottle?" Theo said, puzzled.  
  
"You mean, YOUR ritalin bottle!" Claire said.  
  
"Mine? What are you talking about?" Theo said.  
  
"It fell out of your jacket pocket. I am really disappointed with you. After all that trouble with Anthony Braxton putting that joint in your geography book, you decide to take more drugs!" Claire said.  
  
"But they're not mine!" Theo protested. "I've never seen them in my entire life!"  
  
"Theo, they were in your pocket. You wait until your father gets home!" Claire shouted. She walked out.  
  
* * *  
  
Cliff opened the door to his house. Claire was staring at him.  
  
"Cliff, why do we have a son?" Claire said.  
  
"Um, because God wasn't powerful enough to give us five daughters?" Cliff said.  
  
"Cliff, Theo has been taking ritalin." CLaire said.  
  
"Dear, are you sure?" Cliff said.  
  
"Yes! Here, this fell out of Theo's pocket." Claire said, shoving the ritalin container to Cliff. Cliff stared at it, not knowing what else to do.  
  
"Well, maybe someone put it in there." Cliff said. "Like Tony Braxton did with the joint in his geography book."  
  
"I don't think so Cliff. After all that, Anthony and Theo became good friends. I doubt Anthony would put more drugs with Theo." Claire said.  
  
"Hmmm. After dinner, I'll have another talk to him." Cliff said.  
  
"Fine." Claire said. "I'll go get dinner ready."  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
"Son, open the door." Cliff said, pounding on the door.  
  
The door opened. Theo stood there, looking very unhappy.  
  
"Theo, your mother thinks you are taking drugs. Is that true?" Cliff said.  
  
"No it's not." Theo said. "I never took drugs."  
  
"But, the container was in your jacket pocket." Cliff said.  
  
"Well, maybe someone put it in there." Theo said.  
  
Cliff was thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose that's not impossible. Anthony Braxton did put that joint in your geography book. Did he put the container in your pocket?" Cliff said.  
  
"Oh no. After all that, me and Anthony became friends." Theo said.  
  
Cliff smiled. "Well, I'm sure that you will find out who did it sooner or later." he said.  
  
* * *  
  
Theo was putting his books in his locker when Anthony Braxton came to him.  
  
"Hey Theo." Anthony said.  
  
"Hey Anthony." Theo said, glum.  
  
"What's the matter Theo?" Anthony said.  
  
"I found a ritalin container in my jacket pocket and now my parents think I take drugs!" Theo said.  
  
"Well, I didn't put it in there. I stopped taking drugs." Anthony said.  
  
"I know, I know." Theo said. "Who did?"  
  
Anthony was about to reply when Wickers, a kid in Theo's class, came up to him.  
  
"Hey Huxtable, I accidently took your jacket yesterday and you took mine. I want it back." Wickers said.  
  
Theo suddenly realized something. "Hey Wickers, did you have a ritalin container in your jacket?" He asked, excited.  
  
"Well, yeah. Why?" Wickers asked.  
  
Theo gasped. The connection was made. "That was yours! My parents think I take ritalin!" Theo said.  
  
"So? Just tell them that I put it in there." Wickers said.  
  
"No! You have to tell them yourself!" Theo said.  
  
"Who's gonna make me?" Wickers taunted.  
  
"I will." Anthony said, glaring at Wickers. Wickers's face paled. Anthony was a tough boy and you wouldn't want to mess with him.  
  
"Oh allright." Wickers said.  
  
* * *  
  
Theo, Anthony and Wickers walked into the Huxtable residence.  
  
"Well, no one's home. I better go." Wickers said, making a run for it. Anthony grabbed him.  
  
"You're gonna stay if I have to tie you to the chair." Anthony threatened.  
  
Cliff came walking down the stairs.  
  
"Oh hello Theo, Anthony and um, who is this?" Cliff said, pointing to Wickers.  
  
"Yeah, um, this is Wickers. Wickers has something to say to you." Theo said. Wickers walked over to Cliff. He took a deep breath.  
  
"Dr Huxtable, I accidently took Theo's jacket and Theo took mine. That ritalin container was mine." Wickers said.  
  
"So that's how it got there." Cliff said. "Well, son, as I said to Anthony a couple of months ago, if you need help, go to your parents, or you counsellor or even right here."  
  
"Okay." Wickers said. "Well, I have to go."  
  
Wickers left. Theo sighed with relief.  
  
"Well, I'm glad that's all over." Theo said.  
  
"Yeah." Anthony said.  
  
"I better get dinner ready. Do you want to stay for dinner Anthony?" Cliff asked.  
  
"Sure." Anthony said.  
  
"You're gonna love what I'm making." Cliff started. "It's-"  
  
"Dad! Don't tell!" Theo said. Every time Cliff told his wife and kids what they were eating, they went sick.  
  
"Oh allright. Come on." Cliff said.  
  
Cliff, Theo and Anthony walked into the kitchen, ready to eat dinner.  
  
THE END.  
  
Copyright Frank Candiloro 2001  



End file.
